Attention scofflaws who are still yakking away on handheld cell phones while driving: Honolulu police officers will be cracking down beginning Sunday on those who haven't gotten the message yet, and those who just don't care that it's illegal.

A law that bans the use of "mobile electronic devices" while operating a motor vehicle in Honolulu County went into effect July 1.

"The vast majority of O'ahu's 600,000 licensed drivers have been cooperative and support the new law," said police Maj. Thomas Nitta, commander of HPD's Traffic Division.

Police reported issuing 385 citations to drivers caught blabbing on a cell phone between July 1 and Aug. 8. Between Aug. 9 and Sept. 12, another 568 citations were issued, according to police records.

It appears old habits are hard to break, Nitta said.

"Drivers who were compliant with the new law when it went into effect may have become complacent, and gone back to using their cell phones or texting while driving," Nitta said.

The rebound effect was not altogether unexpected.

"In other jurisdictions that passed similar laws, compliance was good at the start," Nitta said. Then, a certain amount of back-sliding began.

"Past experience has shown that education alone will not change drivers' behavior. That's where enforcement comes in," Nitta said.

Jabbering away on a cell phone while driving is so ingrained in the habits of some O'ahu drivers that a few of them have actually rolled up to police drunken-driving checkpoints with cell phones in hand, gums flapping.

The citations, which carry a $67 fine for the first offense, have been issued on all parts of the island. The bulk of them have come from the central Honolulu district, most likely because there is far more traffic in the urban core and a higher percentage of police officers to spot recalcitrant cell phone users.

"As far as we're concerned, the less drivers we cite, the better," Nitta said.

"Anything that takes your eyes off the road endangers you, your passengers and people in the cars around you," Nitta said.

There's no dearth of law-abiders who call in to report cell phone law violators, but the law is written in such a way that officers virtually have to observe someone breaking the law in order to issue a ticket.

Nitta said he and fellow officers toyed with the idea of creating a place, perhaps in conjunction with the media, where the license plate numbers and possibly the names of cell phone violators could be posted. But that would entail tracking down the registered owner of the vehicle involved and going to their home, and then trying to get the person who reported the infraction to identify the culprit.

That would be a huge amount of work and tremendously time-consuming for a decriminalized traffic infraction, Nitta said.

"But we do respond to reports of people driving while using cell phones," Nitta said. But often times, the offending party has ended the call by the time an officer pulls up alongside, Nitta said.

He said HPD officers hoping drivers who never gave up — or who have returned to — their old cell phone habits get this message just as clear as text: Keep it up, and you will get a ticket.